Entertaining in Peckham

So we're firmly in our new flat and I have to say, we've been cooking up a storm. The kitchen may be tiny, but it's constantly in use. And it makes me wildly happy to know that MY kitchen is the heart of MY home. Or our home, really.
January is always marmelade month. I start full of enthusiasm and then, halfway through chopping peel finely, I start swearing never ever to make it again. This year was different. I made it. And I ate it. And I loved it. Sorry if this is old news, but the bitterness underneath the sweetness is a real pleasure. Not easy, not obvious, but definitely pleasing.
The girls came over for sunday lunch. And, as Glutton Boy would surely say, I bit off more than I could chew. With a veggie amongst the four of them, our meals tend towards the meat-free side and are, it has to be said, ever so slightly competitive, in a good way. Lovely Plenty from Mr Ottolenghi, while complicated, didn't let me down. We ate:

caramelised garlic tart with wensleydale cheese (hate goat's cheese) which was sweet and shart and soft and crispy and savoury and also looked quite fancy-pants.
Beetroot wedges with a relish of roast red peppers and slightly spicy tomato. I forgot to swirl in the greek yoghurt but it looked super-beautiful and jewelled pink and red. Was also sweet and sharp and I could have eaten it all day
Onions stuffed with tomato and feta - looked like little roast testicles but pleased to report tasted all lovely.

Now I recognise that proper food writers have lots of ways to describe their food and usually 'lovely' doesn't get used that much. But I'm not a proper food writer and it was lovely.

Pudding was a Baileys tiramisu - thanks Nigella! (was also lovely).

We've also had people over midweek (which I never normally do), and that's been a different kind of fun. The slow cooker has been invaluable for this - an all-day bolognese, all meltingly umami-ish and savoury seems to hit the spot well. And, I've discovered a lovely (oops!) easy pudding courtesy of Carnation, which I'll share with you:

whip 1 can Carnation condensed milk with 150ml double cream until thick ish.
Add the finely grated zest and juice of four lemons. Whisk again until proper thick.
Spoon into little glasses and chill.

Yummo.

I'm serving this next week, but making some meringue nests to pipe it on to, get me. It also occured to me that if you made a cheesecake-style biscuit base of gingernuts, this would make a nice filling for it. There. A little gift from me to you.

The meringue nest people are getting meatloaf to start. Stuffed with eggs, wrapped in bacon. No graces in Peckham that's for sure.

And Vicky B would say (who is a long way from meatloaf and condensed milk), in love and light...

GG